Castro sent me to Nassau
Nov. 28th, 2016 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisOurs was a not a rare vacation family. We took big vacations, just not often. Our first one didn't happen until I was 10. The plan was to drive to Florida (from North Carolina) and visit Miami and Ft. Lauderdale for Christmas and then go to Havana for New Years. Mother and Daddy planned this for a year. But as the time grew closer, Cuba's government got dicier. Fulgencio Batista's government was new and unstable. Fidel Castro was making noise.
Because of The Big Vacation, we watched and discussed it at dinner a lot. Until finally Daddy pulled the Havanna plug. He waited until he had Nassau in the bag before announcing it so I was fine... one small Caribbean Island was just like another to me back then. And that wasn't the draw anyway.
The big deal was the airplane. I would get to ride in an airplane for the first time ever. Oh what a BFD this was. In the early 50's riding on an airplane was a BFD for everyone actually. We wore our Sunday clothes. Our stewardesses (no flight attendants back then) were both nurses (I asked) although that requirement had been lifted. They were very pretty. The flight was VERY short but we got tablecloths on our tray tables and a Shirley Temple. It was amazing.
We spent 3 days in Nassau and I spent a lot of them looking forward to airplane ride #2 which did not disappoint.
I was kind of fascinated by all the Castro news this weekend. And by remembering that vacation. I'm so very grateful to have experienced all that and still be alive to experience all the amazing things that happen these days.
Because of The Big Vacation, we watched and discussed it at dinner a lot. Until finally Daddy pulled the Havanna plug. He waited until he had Nassau in the bag before announcing it so I was fine... one small Caribbean Island was just like another to me back then. And that wasn't the draw anyway.
The big deal was the airplane. I would get to ride in an airplane for the first time ever. Oh what a BFD this was. In the early 50's riding on an airplane was a BFD for everyone actually. We wore our Sunday clothes. Our stewardesses (no flight attendants back then) were both nurses (I asked) although that requirement had been lifted. They were very pretty. The flight was VERY short but we got tablecloths on our tray tables and a Shirley Temple. It was amazing.
We spent 3 days in Nassau and I spent a lot of them looking forward to airplane ride #2 which did not disappoint.
I was kind of fascinated by all the Castro news this weekend. And by remembering that vacation. I'm so very grateful to have experienced all that and still be alive to experience all the amazing things that happen these days.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-29 12:47 pm (UTC)By the time I was flying as a child in the 70s it was less posh but still a fairly big deal. Dress nicely, get pretty nice food and go and see the captain in the cockpit. We went on holiday abroad every year, unlike 90% of people I knew, but no far. We did a lot of European holiday spots until I was 9 and we branched out to San Fransico and the next year Boston, New York and Canada. I remember the lovely kiddy cocktail I had several of in Canada in 1981, with little cherries on tiny plastic swords that I kept for many years
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-29 03:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-29 05:22 pm (UTC)My first flight was when I was 12; my father paid for my next two sisters and me to go on a joyride in a very small plane (probably a 6 seater) over our farm and the nearby town as a Christmas gift. It was fantastic and I've loved flying ever since.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-29 05:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-29 05:23 pm (UTC)